Wallace joins a crowd lining up at first for Astros

Brett Wallace is getting a second chance this season to show the Astros his offensive skills while sharing time at a congested first base.

Brett Wallace is getting a second chance this season to show the Astros his offensive skills while sharing time at a congested first base.

Photo: Karen Warren, Staff

Image 2 of 2

It's only a matter of time - perhaps by September - before the Astros give top prospect Jonathan Singleton, right, a sampling of major league action at first base.

It's only a matter of time - perhaps by September - before the Astros give top prospect Jonathan Singleton, right, a sampling of major league action at first base.

Photo: James Nielsen, Staff

Wallace joins a crowd lining up at first for Astros

1 / 2

Back to Gallery

Who's on first?

Jose Altuve mans second base, and Matt Dominguez is at third. But who's actually on first for the Astros? The options could fill another skit for Abbott and Costello and still leave fans wondering, "Who's on first?"

On some nights, it will be Carlos Pena. On others, Chris Carter. And since opening-day first baseman Brett Wallace returned this week from Class AAA Oklahoma City, the recent arrival will get some starts at first base, too.

As if that weren't enough, Marc Krauss is another first baseman on the 25-man roster.

A good argument can be made that the Astros' 25-man roster has more legitimate first basemen than outfielders at this point, and the best first baseman in the organization perhaps is Jonathan Singleton, who is at Oklahoma City.

Translator

To read this article in one of Houston's most-spoken languages, click on the button below.

Wallace, who was drafted by St. Louis in the first round of the 2008 draft by current Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow, is getting another chance to prove he belongs in the majors.

Luhnow takes pride in his track record drafting players with the Cardinals. He knows exactly how many of his draftees have reached the majors, so he's obviously invested in Wallace's career.

No scouting director, after all, wants to have a first-round bust on his résumé. Nonetheless, Luhnow is adamant that Wallace has earned his latest call-up.

"When we sent him down, we told him that he needed to work on some things, and he did it and he was having success," Luhnow said. "He's a major league player. He just got off to a bad start and had to go to Oklahoma City to figure some things out.

"We had planned for him to be up here all year and get 500 at-bats. That's probably not possible anymore, but he should be up here getting a steady amount of playing time.

"I think (Tuesday) night we saw evidence that he is able to contribute to our team."

At 26 and sporting a .243 career batting average over parts of four seasons in the majors, Wallace is still trying to establish himself in the majors.

Excels at Class AAA

In his fourth organization since being drafted, Wallace has excelled at Class AAA since 2009. He hit .302 at Sacramento in 2009, .301 at Las Vegas in 2010, .356 at Oklahoma City in 2011 and .300 over 86 games at OKC last year.

Wallace hit .326 with 11 home runs and 37 RBIs over 59 games this season at OKC after his demotion April 18.

"Obviously having success is important," Wallace said. "It keeps your confidence high. But also I think just the work I put in every day more so than just the numbers but getting to a place where you feel good in the box every day when you get in there.

"You kind of have a little checklist so you know you're in the right spot and you're going to be in a similar spot every time you're going to take a swing."

Wallace has shown some positive signs in the two games since his return. He hit a two-run triple Tuesday and the game-tying RBI single Wednesday against the team that had drafted him.

"He's swung the bat well," manager Bo Porter said. "He was swinging the bat well down in Triple-A before we called him up, and he's continued to swing the hot bat just like he was before he arrived here.

"We're going to continue to give him opportunities. It's good for him. I think his confidence is definitely high, and hopefully he keeps playing well."

Wallace's two-run double on Tuesday snapped an 0-for-24 slump in the majors, spanning his two stints this season. Even with the two clutch hits this week, his batting average hovers at .094.

Wallace also can serve as an option at third base, but Porter was only half-joking Wednesday when he said Dominguez was his starting third baseman and his backup third baseman.

Considering the Astros lead the majors with 61 errors, removing Dominguez's slick-fielding defense from third won't be likely unless he needs a break.

Singleton the future

The Astros have made no secret that this season is about figuring out which players on the 25-man roster can help the team moving forward.

Although many of the team's top prospects are at least two years away, the first baseman of the Astros' future is already at Oklahoma City. Singleton was promoted to OKC from Class AA Corpus Christi along with outfielder George Springer on Sunday.

Singleton will get steady playing time at OKC and likely be in the majors by September at the latest.

"He's going to play wherever he's at," Porter said of Singleton. "When he gets here, he's going to play."